Saudi woman may have been abducted from Australia
SYDNEY—A Saudi Arabian woman appears to have been abducted from Australia and flown to the Gulf state, her lawyer has told AFP, saying she fears her client is in detention.
Lolita Safeeraldeen arrived in Australia in 2022 and stopped responding to messages in May 2023 while in Melbourne, said her human rights lawyer, Alison Battisson.
Battisson said she initially hoped her client was hiding elsewhere in Australia.
But a year later, she has been told Safeeraldeen is back in Saudi Arabia, raising concern that her client was removed from Australia against her will.
“I’m absolutely certain that Lolita would never go back to Saudi Arabia voluntarily,” Battisson told AFP in Sydney.
“I’m just happy that it looks like she’s alive and for a long time I thought she might be dead.”
Battisson said a family member had confirmed that Safeeraldeen was alive in Saudi Arabia, most likely in a detention center.
Saudi Arabia’s embassy has been asked to comment on the allegations.
Abuse
Safeeraldeen—who was married at the age of 11, and gave birth to her first child at 13—fled sexual and physical abuse in her home country and was seeking asylum in Australia, according to The Australian newspaper.
On the night Safeeraldeen disappeared, a friend of hers who wishes to remain anonymous for safety reasons, received an “absolutely petrifying” call begging for help as men forced her to leave, Battisson said.
The friend rushed to her home but was blocked from seeing the woman by several men, who were outside with a black Mercedes van, the lawyer said.
Neither the friend nor Battisson heard from Safeeraldeen again.
From a young age, Safeeraldeen had allegedly been forced to assume the identity of her dead half-sister Hanan, who is reportedly nine years older.
‘Extremely concerned’
Flight records show that a woman named Hanan Safeeraldeen bordered a flight out of Melbourne a few days after the incident at her home, Battisson said.
But the airport CCTV is no longer available, and she does not know who else was on the flight.
“I’m extremely concerned for Lolita’s safety,” Battisson said.
So far, the Australian government has not publicly confirmed any details of the incident or the woman’s identity.
Australia’s federal police said they were aware of the allegations and began inquiries in Australia and offshore in June 2024. They declined further comment.
The Home Affairs Department said it would not comment on a specific case but it was “actively investigating a range of foreign interference cases.”
Saudi Arabia has long been associated with the repression of women over its former rules such as a ban on driving and a requirement to wear abaya robes.
While some restrictions have been lifted, human rights activists say a personal status law that took effect in 2022 still discriminates against women concerning marriage, divorce and child-rearing. —AFP
